Under the guidance of the athletic department, CSUSM women’s volleyball began the first official yoga training program during the 2016 season.

Personal experience and a struggle with back injuries drove Head Coach Andrea Leonard to incorporate yoga in the team’s training this year.

“We started seeing some tightness, back injuries, hip tightening from volleyball and I spoke with our Sports Performance Coach Eric Blekeberg, who [now] walks us through all of the yoga practices. He was in total agreement,” Leonard said.

The volleyball team did occasional yoga sessions in the past and some athletes practiced on their own, but Blekeberg’s addition to the athletic department has allowed for a more consistent and volleyball-focused yoga program, said Leonard.

During the season, the team concentrated a lot on stretching and mobility of the hips, hamstrings, back and quads. Some favorite parts of the sessions include the yoga pose, “pretzel” and “cobra” for stretching the back, said Athlete of the Month Samantha Flores.

Beyond the physical benefits, the team is also able to hone their mental ability through yoga.

“I think it helps us on the court when their butterflies and their nerves are going. They have a tendency to breath really quickly and fast because the game can go quickly,” Leonard said.

“They revert back to that yoga because we do breathing exercises … they remind themselves to breath from the abdomen, take a deep breath, center yourself, refocus, narrow that focus and I think that helps their mental capacity too.”

Sophomore Courtney Hulla also elaborated on the personal benefits of yoga.

“Mentally, it’s very healthy in the aspect that you’re able to focus on really just being with yourself and hearing and feeling yourself breath and just focusing on you. It’s definitely ‘me time’ … You can take time to forget everything else that is going on,” Hulla said.